T

he Attorney General'€™s Office (AGO) announced on Tuesday that it had officially opened an investigation into House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto for allegedly claiming to speak on behalf of President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla in demanding shares from gold and copper mining firm Freeport Indonesia.

The AGO said that its investigators were currently in the preliminary investigation phase, which involved collecting evidence to confirm Setya'€™s alleged abuse of power and conspiracy by trying to broker a deal between the government and the local unit of mining giant Freeport McMoRan.

'€œWe want to dig further to make the case crystal clear by launching a preliminary investigation,'€ Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

In his lobby, Setya allegedly claimed to have won the approval of Jokowi and Kalla to secure shares and projects from Freeport Indonesia in exchange for helping the firm extend its contract and continue operating its gold mine, one of the world'€™s largest, in Papua.

Even if it cannot be proved that Setya had benefited from the alleged violation, if it was proved to have occurred, he could still be charged with corruption for his attempt as regulated under Article 15 of the Law No. 31/1999 on corruption. The law regulates punishment for individuals who attempt, help or plan a corruption scheme.

In addition, if found guilty the AGO could also charge Setya under Article 2 and 3 of the same law for state officials who abuse their power to benefit themselves, other people and corporations, and cause state losses.

'€œConspiracy to commit corruption is corruption itself. An attempt to commit corruption is also corruption. Violation of the Corruption Law could be related to an abuse of power by making use of a particular incident that is incompatible with someone'€™s authority [as a state official],'€ Prasetyo added.

The Attorney General said that the AGO had launched the investigation on its own initiative, without any instruction either from Jokowi or Kalla, adding that the AGO would soon issue summonses to collect testimony from witnesses in the case in the near future.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said in his report to the House'€™s ethics council submitted recordings and transcripts of conversations involving Setya, Freeport Indonesia president director Maroef Sjamsoeddin and oil and gas businessman Muhammad Reza Chalid that allegedly reveal the controversial offer.

Meanwhile, the divided ethics council held an open vote on Tuesday and decided to continue hearing the case by issuing a summons for Sudirman to testify against Setya on Wednesday, and Maroef and Reza on Thursday. The Golkar Party has expressed its strong support for Setya and questioned the authenticity of the evidence brought by Said, among various other means of avoiding the possibility of the ethics council delivering a conclusion of guilt.

Council deputy chairman Junimart Girsang of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the council would interrogate Setya after collecting testimonies from the three witnesses. '€œWe must first discuss the witnesses'€™ statements to decide whether we have to immediately summon Setya.'€

In a hearing with House Commission VII overseeing energy on Tuesday, Sudirman said that Maroef had decided to report the meeting to him after being summoned by Setya.

'€œThe request confused him [Maroef]. The first meeting was on Oct. 24 and the second one was also attended by the businessman whose name has been mentioned in the media [Reza]. Every time [he met with Setya] he reported it to me,'€ he added. (foy)
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